Contract
Your policy is a contract with Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd, and the complete and only record of that contract. If anything in your application form or these policy provisions differs from your policy summary, the policy summary will apply.
Insurable Interest
You can take out insurance on your own life. You can also take out insurance on the lives of others, but you can do that only if you have an interest in the other person that our law recognises as worthy of insurance protection, referred to insurable interest. You have such an interest in, for example, your spouse, children, parents, parents-in-law and other family members. Your claim can be declined if, when you claim, you cannot prove that you had the required interest and suffered a subsequent loss.
Permanent Employment
At Date of Acceptance the policyholder must be permanently employed in order to qualify for this policy.
Who are the different role players who form part of your policy?
- Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd is the Insurer.
- The Policyholder is the owner of the policy who holds and exercises the rights in the policy. The policyholder must be 18 years or older.
- The Premium Payer is the person responsible for paying the premiums of the policy. The policyholder must also be the premium payer.
- The Life Assured is the person on whose life the policyholder takes out insurance.
- The Beneficiary is the person nominated by the policyholder to receive the policy benefits after the death of a life assured. The policyholder may select a maximum of four beneficiaries and indicate the percentage split of the benefit.
South African Citizenship
The policyholder, lives assured and beneficiaries must all be South African citizens.
Entry age
All references to age will be the life assureds’ Age Last Birthday. Your age at entry will be your Age Last Birthday on Date of Commencement.
Important Dates
- The Acceptance Date is the date on which the policy application is accepted by Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd.
- The First Deduction Date is the date on which Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd will deduct and receive the first premium on your policy.
- The Commencement Date is on the first day of the month in which Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd receives the first monthly premium.
- The Re-instatement Date means the date on which a policy is re-instated after it has lapsed.
Can the Commencement Date change?
Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd reserves the right to move the Commencement Date to the same date of the following month should your premium not be paid on the original First Deduction Date. Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd will move the Commencement Date a maximum of 2 (two) times, after which, if the first premium is still not paid, the policy will be deemed as “not taken up” and you will not be entitled to any benefits from this policy.
Can changes be made to the policy?
The policyholder can make changes to the policy. The application for changes must be done in writing on an application which Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd will provide. If Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd approves the changes, they will apply from the beginning of the month following the month in which it is approved.
What is defined as death due to an accident?
It means an unexpected death caused only by unnatural, external, accidental, violent and visible means.
Do you have to select cover for yourself in order to cover other family members on this policy?
You do not have to cover yourself in order to cover your immediate and/or extended family members.
Who is defined as a Spouse?
The person to whom the policyholder is married, and which marriage is accepted under the law of South Africa – including civil, customary or same-sex marriages, or with whom the policyholder lives in a relationship similar to a marriage, which relationship is intended to be permanent like a marriage and has existed for at least 2 (two) years.
A maximum of 1 (one) spouse may be nominated under Immediate Family. The remaining spouse(s) can be nominated as an Extended Family member.
Who are Immediate Family members?
It is the policyholder’s spouse and the policyholder’s unmarried children, including legally adopted- and stepchildren under the age of 21 (or 26, if he/she is a full-time student).
Children’s cover stops on the last day of the month in which the child turns 21 years old (or 26 years old, if he/she is a full-time student). Once the child, turns 21 years old or 26 years old (if he/she is a full-time student), the child can be added as an Extended Family member. This can be done within 30 days of the child’s 21st birthday (or 26th birthday, if he/she is a full-time student). The child will be covered for up to 30 days after his/her 21st (or 26th birthday, if he/she is a full-time student). A new waiting period will apply if the child is not nominated as an Extended Family member within 30 (thirty) days. Physically and mentally disabled children will be covered indefinitely. When children turn 21 years old (or 26 years old, if he/she is a full-time student) and are no longer covered, the premium will be reduced accordingly.
Who are Extended Family members under this policy?
Extended Family members refer to the policyholder’s parents, parents-in-law and relatives.
Can a newborn child be added to your policy?
A child born after the Date of Acceptance of the policy must be nominated in writing within 6 (six) months of the date of birth. If not nominated within 6 (six) months from date of birth, a 6 (six) month waiting period will apply.
Waiting period
Means the period(s) within which Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd will not pay a claim which arises from death due to natural causes or suicide. Waiting periods will start from Acceptance Date or Re-instatement Date (if applicable). When a new life assured is added to the policy, all waiting periods will apply to the new life assured.
What is the maximum benefit amount per life assured?
Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd imposes a maximum assured limit per life assured on their policies, where the maximum claim amount, excluding annual benefit escalations, is R100 000 (one hundred thousand rand).
When will benefits be paid under this policy?
You will only qualify for benefits from the Date of Acceptance. Claims are paid within 48 (forty eight) hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, after Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd received all required information and documentation for a valid claim.
Benefits will only be paid if the assured event occurs for lives assured listed in the policy schedule, if the policy is active and the correct premium is being paid and received by Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd. The benefit amounts are shown on the policy schedule.
Is there a benefit for stillborn children?
If the policyholder or the policyholder’s spouse, provided that she is a life assured under the policy, becomes pregnant, she automatically qualifies for cover of R1 250 for a stillborn child. This amount is payable once during the lifetime of the policy and will only be paid if the pregnancy lasted 26 weeks or more.
Does your policy have a cash value?
The policy is a whole of life risk policy only. No part of the policy makes provision for investment. The policy does not have a cash value and no loan can be made against the policy.
Is a life assured covered outside the borders of South Africa?
The life assured has to inform Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd if he/she leaves the borders of South Africa for a period of more than 6 (six) months or permanently. In this event the life assureds’ benefits will automatically terminate after 6 (six) months out of the country.
If the life assured does not inform Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd of the change, benefits will only be paid at the discretion of Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd should the risk regarding the life assured not have increased materially.
When does the policy come to an end?
The policyholder can give written notice of cancellation. If a cancellation notice reaches Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd within 30 (thirty) days after the policyholder received the policy summary, the policy will be cancelled and we will refund any premiums that have been collected to the premium payer less the amount charged for any cover enjoyed and expenses incurred during that time. This is known as a cooling-off cancellation period.
If a cancellation notice reaches Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd after the 30 (thirty) days, the policy will end at the end of the month in which it is received and the policyholder will be bound by the terms and conditions of the policy.
The policy will come to an end when the insured event occurs and Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd has fulfilled all contractual duties under the terms and conditions of the policy.
The policy will lapse when 3 (three) consecutive premiums have not been collected successfully, or if 6 (six) premiums have not been collected successfully during the lifetime of the policy.
Can a policy be re-instated?
If the policyholder cancels a policy, or if it has ended because premiums were not paid, the policyholder may, within 90 (ninety) days, apply for it to be reinstated, subject to payment of all outstanding premiums and any policy provisions which Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd may require.
Continuation of cover
On the death of the policyholder, the policy can continue as long as there is one or more lives assured on the policy. Any life assured or beneficiary from the age of 18 (eighteen) can become the new policyholder and premium payer. The new policyholder has to notify Lion of Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd within a period of 30 (thirty) days after the occurrence of the insured event.